How to Write Better ChatGPT Prompts (With 10 Templates)

ChatGPT is good at almost everything and great at nothing in particular until you tell it what you want. This guide covers the techniques that make the biggest difference day to day, followed by ten copy-ready templates.

Start with a clear goal

Before typing, answer three questions:

What will I do with the answer? Publish it, paste it into code, use it to decide something?
Who is it for? You, a client, a beginner, an expert?
What does a finished answer look like? A list, an email, a table, a paragraph?

Put those answers into the prompt. That alone fixes most generic output.

Techniques that work

Give ChatGPT a role and an audience

You are an experienced product manager. Explain what a product roadmap is
to a new junior designer who has never worked in a software company.

The role controls expertise and vocabulary; the audience controls how much is explained.

Specify length and format

"Write a short answer" means different things to different people. Be literal:

"Answer in 3 bullet points of one sentence each."
"Write 120–150 words."
"Return a table with columns: Tool, Price, Best for."

Show an example (few-shot)

When you need a consistent style — product descriptions, tweet threads, support replies — paste one or two examples and ask ChatGPT to follow them:

Write product descriptions in the same style as this example.

Example:
"Cedar & Smoke Candle — a slow-burning soy candle that smells like a cabin
fire on a cold night. 45 hours of burn time. Hand-poured in small batches."

Now write one for: a lavender bath salt, 500 g jar.

Ask it to think step by step

For maths, logic, planning or debugging, ask ChatGPT to reason before answering:

Work through this step by step, then give the final answer on its own line.

Newer reasoning models already do this internally, but the instruction still helps you see why it reached an answer.

Break big jobs into steps

Instead of "write a 2,000-word article", run a sequence: outline → review the outline → write section 1 → write section 2. You stay in control of structure and the quality of each section goes up.

Use custom instructions for things you always repeat

If you always want British spelling, metric units or no emojis, add that to ChatGPT's custom instructions (Settings → Personalization) instead of repeating it in every prompt.

10 ChatGPT prompt templates

Replace the text in [brackets].

1. Explain a concept

Explain [concept] to [audience] in under 200 words. Use one real-world
analogy and end with a one-sentence summary.

2. Rewrite for tone

Rewrite the text below to sound [friendly / formal / confident] for
[audience]. Keep the meaning and length. Text: [paste]

3. Summarize a document

Summarize the text below in 5 bullet points, then list any numbers,
dates or deadlines it mentions. Text: [paste]

4. Brainstorm ideas

Give me 15 ideas for [topic] aimed at [audience]. Group them into 3
themes and mark the 3 most original ones with ⭐.

5. Write an email

Write a short email to [recipient] asking for [request]. Context: [facts].
Tone: polite but direct. Include a clear subject line and one call to action.

6. Debug code

You are a senior [language] developer. This code throws [error]. Explain
the cause in two sentences, then show the corrected code with comments
on what changed. Code: [paste]

7. Compare options

Compare [option A], [option B] and [option C] for [use case]. Return a
table with: cost, learning curve, main strength, main weakness. Then
recommend one for [my situation] and explain why in 3 sentences.

8. Create a study plan

Create a [4]-week study plan to learn [skill] from beginner level with
[5] hours per week. For each week list goals, resources and one practice task.

9. Critique my work

Act as a strict editor. Point out the 5 biggest weaknesses in the text
below, ranked by impact, with a concrete fix for each. Do not rewrite it.
Text: [paste]

10. Role-play practice

Role-play as a [job interviewer / difficult customer / investor]. Ask me
one question at a time and wait for my answer. After 5 questions, give
me feedback on what I did well and what to improve.

When ChatGPT gets it wrong

Too long? "Cut this to half the length without losing any key point."
Too generic? "Add one specific example or number to every paragraph."
Made something up? "Which of these claims are you unsure about? Mark them."
Wrong format? Repeat the format instruction and give an example.

Generate a structured prompt in seconds

If you have an idea but not the time to structure it, paste it into the ChatGPT Prompt Generator. It returns a prompt with a role, skills, constraints and an output format that you can use as-is or adjust.